001Good evening and welcome to the January 21st Board of Education meeting for the Chester Union Free School District. Mrs. Ionuzi, can you please take role? >> Present. >> Pres. Thank you. Can we all please stand for the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Can I please have a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? >> I'll make that motion. I'll second. All in favor? >> I. >> Motion pass. Can I please have a motion to approve the board meeting minutes of January 7th, 2026? >> I'll make the motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion pass. That brings us to presentations. Mrs. Garcia. >> Good evening everyone.
002I will begin my board report by discussing district goal number two. In recognition of January as national mentorship uh month, the district is highlighting mentorship partnerships and celebrating the participation of all of the mentors and the mentees collaboration since September. So we have faculty mentors and mentees have been participating in structured collaborative mentor partnerships that focus on professional growth and instructional support. Mentors provide guidance, encouragement, and ongoing feedback, supporting mentees through reflective conversations and shared practices in accordance with the New York State uh mentor standards. And mentees are actively engaged in the process by seeking feedback, reflecting on best practices, and demonstrating openness and growth. So, I would like to give the opportunity to give a shout out to all of our district mentors. So at Chester Academy, we have Miss Edwards, Miss Lambo, Miss
003Styler, Mr. Olive, and Miss Crryer. At Chester Elementary School, we have Miss Quackenbush, Miss Pascowski, Miss Cameron, Miss Cutler, Miss Moran, Miss Bole, Miss Maggie, and Miss Sc. We have a big group, but um I would like for you to watch the images that I posted that they all shared on Facebook. So uh you get to see the punishes. um shared some very fun uh images and pictures. So, everyone was featured. So, that we're doing really well in collaborating. Um our second uh item that I would like to address was on last Friday, January 16th, we had our superintendent half day conference. We had a very collaborative approach throughout uh both buildings. So we were able to provide vertical uh alignment uh with the arts department, the music department and the tech and STEM team.
004So CES and CA were able to collaborate. They all came over here and they uh work on vertical alignment sharing best practices. Um so I got good feedback on that. While at the elementary school, they were able to get another uh opportunity to get uh professional uh development on amplify science and evaluate the pilot. and uh Mary Kate um Miss Bose, sorry, and uh uh Dorene uh Miss Batist, they both did a very funfilled uh professional development workshop called I Got You, which focused on behavior support and strategies and culturally responsive uh practices for the mentors and the mentees. I posted pictures on Facebook. you get to see the fun that they had in team building and um they did a lot of roleplaying with um how to adjust uh to certain behaviors. Um so
005they were very creative um and uh we got positive feedback on that at the academy was very busy because of the departmentalization and focusing on different content areas. So every subject area were able to receive a content specific focus. Uh at the middle school they had uh lab aids uh middle middle school focused on lab aid science. Uh the high school focused on the inner orbit which is the assessment tool that focuses on NGSS uh assessments. Uh the middle school ELA and math department they focus on the I Ready Pro. There were new updates and changes made to the middle school platform. So, a presenter came in person and provided them with uh one-on-one support as well as uh Q&A on the changes uh and answered questions at the high school. They were able to
006register to their free access to Magma Math, which is a AI platform that I uh spoke last time. And uh Miss Inkladon, our new librarian, provided uh inservice academy workshop to the entire social studies department and she was able to uh review all the library resources that they could actually use in their social studies classroom and that will support the seal of civic readiness for them. uh the physical education they were working on aligning um their materials and uh resources with the standards and that was led by Mr. Ducet and then at the afternoon session they were able to work collaboratively uh to discuss students who are at risk and to provide supports for uh the students in grades 6 through 12 who are struggling academically. And lastly, uh, district goal one and three, we
007had our family instructional academy. We had the tech the holidays event that got rescheduled. Uh, we had it on January 15th. And I want to thank uh, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Vonman for their collaboration um, in guiding the families uh, through the vertical alignment that exists. So, not only do the parents were able to see all the work that CES does on their steam night, um they showed the progression of the different uh courses that exist in the middle school, then they work up to the high school and they were able to see all of the different projects and the tools that are used in the tech room and in the maker space. And on your desk, you have uh your own coaster. So every uh family was able to uh generate their own name
008and design it. Um and they left with uh a laser uh engraved coaster that they designed on their own. Um and that's all I have for you. Any questions? >> Question. >> I don't have a question. Um I attended the family academy and I I mean they're all awesome. there's an academy we can attend but it was so nice to see um there was so many highlights I don't even know where to start so it was nice to see um families from CES um because they were really interested of what they come over to the academy and they have questions um so that was cool to to see that um and not only did we walk away we walk away t-shirts I mean like I was like I had all these goodies coming home but
009there's so much. And then the um that business um model that the teachers are like teaching the students like okay we have this and just the planning and that business model that they're teaching them on how can we use these resources to you know form that business plan and stuff. So it's just it's not just lasering it's not just doing this laser there's there's other things behind it. So we well we see this but there's so much more going on that taps into the different like disciplines that It really is nice to see it and I I wish and I guess my my desire is for more families to come out and as a board member I I wouldn't be doing my advocacy right um if I don't ask the community to like if there's
010opportunity yes it's cold and it's dark but that one hour one and a half hours was so enlightening and the kids that were there were happy was bonding moment from you know the children and the parents but there's so much that happens in thesemies that it really when I do go I I really do enjoy them was really cool as well so just kudos to you to the teachers >> and then just again I'm so amazed at what we have to offer and I was like man I wish more families are able to see >> the quality of the equipment I mean I again I can just go on and on because I was like amazed like we really are blessed to offer what we have in our very small district. Um, but again, the
011quality, the the equipment, the just everything is really really nice program. So, >> and just the collaboration between Mr. Rodman and Mr. Jordan is great and they work so hard in teaching the students. When I go in the classroom and I see like is the freshman year and then they're learning how to do all these things, I'm like, "Oh my god." Right? And seeing the projects from start to finish is impressive. And not only that, they work with the other uh specials teachers and try to expand uh partnerships among the other content areas. So there's a lot of teachers that want to come in and do 3D printing with in science or atoms and you know so the collaboration is what they're trying to work on to trying to schedule more uh interdisciplinary activities. So
012thank you for the feedback. >> Any other questions? No, I just I wanted to thank you for providing us with all of the information in terms of what goes on during professional development and to thank the staff for the amount of time that you can tell goes into planning for the PDS. Um, these are not topics that can just be covered in a video or an email. They just seem just so intentionally done and well thought out and just so interactive. So, I just wanted to thank all of the staff that contribute to this because it's just such a great use of time. You can tell >> they provide us with feedback of what they want. So I know we work with uh Miss O'Hara to make sure that the teachers feedback have input. So
013that's uh has evolved throughout the years. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> I just wanted to comment on um you know highlighting the mentorship program. you know, that is fairly new um in New York State and um it is something that I think is extremely, you know, beneficial um for both the veteran teacher as well as um you know, our new teachers here at Chester. Um and you hear, you know, great things. Um there's nothing like collaborating with someone who has walked in your shoes. Um so certainly something you can't get from a college course. Um but you know shephering that is so important. So thank you. >> Thank you >> Mr. Det. Hello everyone. So we have our believe it or not winter sports. We are rolling up into the playoffs already. Uh
014once we hit February, we start to run into our wrestling championships, track championships. Towards the end of the month is basketball, and some of our other team sports. All of our winter teams are still alive for the playoffs, our team sports. Uh individual, obviously, we'll know more once they get to their county championships, their OCIA championships, and their section championships. Just a couple highlights. I wanted to uh shout out some of our players. Zoe Arnette is currently ranked number 22 in New York State for the mile. She was at a meet last week where she placed fifth in a field that included 115 schools at the Armory. Uh for wrestling, we had El and Dominic, Daniel, Cameron, Khloe, all all of our wrestlers. They all uh placed or won championships at the Pauling and Ketchum
015tournaments. There was a Croin tournament. Uh we have the uh the individual championships coming up in a few weeks. It's usually right around Super Bowl Sunday in there somewhere. Basketball, uh both of our teams are now getting into the heart of their league schedules. So, for anybody who looks at our overall record for our teams, one of the things that I pride myself on as a coach, and I know a lot of my coaches do the same thing, our non-league schedule is always very difficult. Uh, most of our teams choose to play AAA's, double A's and A's, whereas a lot of schools our sides will choose to play C's and D's. Doesn't really do much for us once we get towards the playoffs. And so while our record doesn't always show that, you know, we're
016not 10 and0 going into our division games, but what you notice is we might be five and five, but then all of a sudden we end up six and one, you know, 7-0 in our division games. So the way we set up our schedule often has a lot of success in our league schedule, which is we want to win league titles, our varsity sports especially. So currently our girls and boys teams are heading in that direction. The boys team is currently two and one. girls are actually just beat Liberty, so they're working towards their league schedule coming up. Um, so we'll see. We won't know until we get towards the third week of February, uh, if and when they make the playoffs what their seedings will be. The track team, indoor track, is going to
017be, uh, competing in the OCIA Divisional Championship at West Point. That's this Friday, January 23rd. U, all the playoff dates for all the sports will be based on the seedings meeting. Just as an FYI to the community, if you go to a track meet at West Point, and I've said this a few times through the year, if you're going for an individual game, say a modified basketball game at the youth center inside West Point, you must get a visitor's pass at the visitors control center. You must show a real ID at the visitor center, get your pass, then you can go in through the Stony Lonesome Gate. Give yourself extra time. With the track meets, it's different. It's considered a special event. You do not need to get a visitor's pass to go into West
018Point for that track meet, but you do need to show ID at the Stony Lonesome Gate to get in. Um, so that'll start this Friday, obviously, with that meeting. Spring sports we need to talk about already. Uh, we have some important dates that I like to announce at every meeting in the winter. Uh, February 9th, registration starts for our spring sports. Uh, March 9th, JV and varsity sports spring triyouts will begin. March 16th will be the modified sports triyouts. All that information will be posted on the website, pushed out via social media, parent square, like we always do. The uh messages will start to go out next week. We always like to do it a few weeks before registration opens and we will send it out weekly up until tryyouts start. And then as we
019started doing in the fall and the winter, we will always send out a second reminder between JV and varsity and when the modified starts since that starts a week later. So we'll send a separate message for modified academic elig eligibility. I am happy to report that we are trending in a positive direction. Only 3.4% of our SC of our student athletes were identified by the academic eligibility policy. That's only four of 146 students that are playing sports for us in the winter. 146 does not represent every student that registered. It represents every student that made a team because we have, you know, 25 kids coming out for a varsity basketball team. Obviously, we can't keep 25 kids. So that is the number of student athletes on active rosters. Uh all of our student athletes are
020attending their study sessions and currently they're all eligible. Nobody has been put on restrictions. So we're definitely heading in the right direction there. Uh just a quick note on Maple Avenue storage. We've been talking over the last four or five years I've been doing this about improving all of our storage areas. We've pretty much completed that up here at the academy and we have a very organized structure with an inventory system now. We know where every piece of equipment, every uniform is, everything is is uh accounted for. Maple Avenue is our next project. I've been working with uh with Brett uh out of the buildings and grounds department. We were down at Maple actually just last week kind of looking at what we can do to create some cages down there to make things a
021little safer uh up to code and have a little bit more space down at Maple to transport some of the things that are up here that we use primarily at Maple and move them down there. Once the athletic facility is built, we'll also gain some storage there so we can start to move some things around and gain some space. So, that is a is a work in progress, but hopefully within the next, I would say calendar year, uh, we should start to have some of that under control. We have to budget for some of that. Senior nights. So, as we approach the end of our winter seasons, we do have to talk about senior nights. I have to warn you, obviously this Sunday, we're talking about weather, right? So, this time of year, the senior
022nights, it is a moving target, right? because we never know what's going to happen with the weather. We always try and schedule our senior nights a few games in before the end of the season just in case we run into some weather. Right now, I've already got one change for you. Since the board report I gave you, we had to move the girls varsity basketball senior night to February 10th versus Port Jervis. Boys varsity basketball will be February 13th versus Chapel Field. Girls and boys varsity wrestling, we're working to create a second meet on February 6th for both to do it at the same time. We'll do them in between the girls and the boys meet or match, I should say. and girls and boys indoor track and field. We're looking to do something a
023little different this year. Normally indoor track, we do it during a wrestling meet, but since we have the girls and the boys, we're we want to we we want to do something separate for track and do something a little more special for them. So, we're start currently brainstorming ideas on what to do there. I'm working with the track coaches to have our own separate event in the cafeteria uh for just the seniors to do something special for just them that night. Section 9 update. So, I wanted to bring this one to everyone's attention because we so we've had the section as a whole is looking at, you know, safe and secure environments for our student athletes, for our fans, for our officials. So, a lot of school districts are doing is they're kind of reworking,
024you know, where people are parking, single points of entry. You know, a lot of things we've talked about in the last few months. So, one of the things we are doing is creating um separate entries for officials, separate locations for officials that are further away from the gym. um separate entrances for players versus spectators. So, something we've been working on, the section has been working on over the last few years. Our particular building presents some logistical issues just because of where the entrances are, but by moving some people around and utilizing some different offices, we've been able to separate players from fans from officials. So, it's made a we've had a pretty smooth experience so far this year. We haven't had many issues, if any at all. Um and I think that's a direct result
025of working with the staff in the building who have uh been gracious enough to work with us and let us use their space. building these grounds has been helping us out with that. So, it's been working out very well. And then lastly, something that we've been talking about for several months, uh, how to highlight our athletes social media wise. And I know we've had several conversations. Um, I've had, you know, I presented on this a few times. I actually had Mr. Schwarzoff in my class for an observation and we were one of this conversation started when he was there for that and and we had talked about it after the fact because we were trying to figure out how to highlight uh our athletes. How do we go about doing it without and we talked
026last month about not flooding social media with so much stuff that you kind of become numb to it, right? So, we also want to, you know, there's some seasons we're having great seasons, other seasons where we're struggling a little bit from sport to sport because it's cyclical. It goes up and down. So how do we highlight that and find those little pieces? So we're going to try something and the class came up with this after a lengthy conversation we started talking about how to manage our social media um presence as far as our you know our reputation right the positive. So, one of the things we talked about is instead of doing, hey, this team is seven and six or this team is did this or won this championship, how can we maybe do like
027a feature Friday or something like that where once a week we throw something out there where we don't just highlight one team or we don't just highlight one individual, we're going to do all of our sports teams at one time. So, if you bring your attention to the uh the screen behind you, I will show you our very first one. This is our debut. And we hope to do this every week for the remainder of the year. And we've had conversations with our parent panel also on what this can look like. And this is the direction we're heading. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> So, that's kind of something we're looking to do once a week, just a quick little 20 to 30 second hit of here is our highlights for the week.
028Um, because we if we do it every day and we talk about game results and things like that, it's the same as if we were posting our schedule of the games every day. We get numb to it. We don't look at it. So, if it's just that once a week, we look forward to it. Hey, every Friday we know this is coming. it it and this was a class-generated idea. So, we kind of, you know, I pushed them a little bit in one direction, but we got together and figured this out and decided this was probably our best avenue. I know we've been talking about this forever, but we finally found something we think that works and we're going to go with this for now and my next parent advisory panel, which will be at
029the end of February, beginning of March. We'll see what everybody thinks about this and kind of move forward and take the community feedback, the student feedback, see how they feel about it. And as you can see, we're starting to get those yearbook pictures in from the winter sports now that Miss Berettto helps us with. Um, they started coming in. We're start able to use those now, which we haven't been able to use last couple weeks because we were still gathering those together. So, that's where we're at. And that's uh my report for this month. Anybody have any questions for me? >> Question. >> I have a question. the the um February 9th date. Have you sent anything out yet on Parent Square to let parents know just that it's coming up? >> We do it
030about two and a half weeks prior to that start. So that would be next week. So because we what I found is if we do it a full month early, people don't really end up paying too much attention to that. So I find that that sweet spot's kind of that two to three weeks ahead of time. So next week will be the first one and then we're going to do it every Monday, Tuesday for the next month after that. And then we'll do a specific modified message in between the JV and the modified season. >> And then my next question was, how often does your sports media class post? >> We post every day. Um the reason why we haven't posted this week is because it's regions week. There's there's no events. But uh for
031the most part, any day there's an event, we will post something that day. So the only time we won't post if there's, you know, next week, say there's games Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we may not post on Tuesday, Thursday. But part of this may end up filling some of that. That's why I'm a little hesitant to call it Friday feature because it might be just towards the end of the week if we have an empty day. That way it's not mixed in with the game announcements. It stands on its own and you kind of just see that and kind of absorb that by itself. >> Thanks. Thank you so much. Appreciate Mr. Schwarzoff. I normally get up here and tell you I'm going to be really fast, but I'm not. I'm sorry. Um, we did a
032lot this month. We, uh, so for a year and a half, I've been telling you we're upgrading our Wi-Fi. It's done. The Wi-Fi access points finally came in. Me and Nick spent about two days going through every single one, replacing them. Um, we did find a couple of problematic ones that were installed before that were causing some problems. Um, after we put everything in, we did a walk around. We looked for um dead spots in the building. We are currently found about three. We're going to fill those in. They're not in hight traffic areas, but we're just going to fill them in anyway. Um, we're also looking at um putting Wi-Fi down at Maple Avenue um in the next month or so as well. Uh, so while you're down there, we'll have Wi-Fi outside and
033and in the building. Um, we have our first five eight synergy dashboards built. Um, three of them are teacher focused and they will be um rolled out in the next week or so. Um the other five are admin focused. So we can look at enrollment, we can look at discipline, we can look at a a student profile that's built. So when we look at a student, we can see all of their discipline, all of their absences, all of their scores all in one place so that we can kind of make a a decision on the whole child as opposed to just just looking at discipline or just looking at absences. Um Q2 grades are open for teachers to input now. They uh have about 10 days to input them. Um it seems to be going
034well. This is our first time inputting midterm grades as well. So that fingers crossed it's going well so far. Um the cafeteria projector I told you was going in that is 100% up and running. it. Um, we already have the announcements that are on the front TV. They're in there during lunch periods um every day. We're looking to work with Rolando to possibly put different um announcements up there focused at students alone, not that's more of a community focused one because it's right at the entrance. Do something specifically for kids. Um, we already have our first movie night scheduled coming up in the next couple weeks as well. Um, so they'll be using that. They have sound, they have projector. It's really nice. Um, Matt finished mostly finished the uh the main entrances to the
035the school and they look great. In that process, we um redid how we do visitor wear. So, it's a little bit faster to check people in. It's not selfdone anymore. So, when you come in, it used to be where you you took a photo of yourself, scan the back of your ID, scan the front of your ID. Um, now you go up to the security officer, we scan the back of your ID, take a photo of you, and you're done. It takes about 8 seconds. Um, so that's a little bit faster. Um, testing is coming around. So, January midterms are happening right now with January regions are happening right now. Midterms are happening right now. We have the 3 through8 simulations coming up in the next week or so. Um so we got a lot
036of testing going on right now. We did we had a large format printer that we can use for um either architectural drawings or posters or stuff like that that was dying. We just replaced that this past month. Um and then just today we looked at purchasing um new battery backups for the entire network so that when I if we lose power we'll have battery backups for about half an hour and then by then we'll have the generators up and running. We're um looking at the possibility right now not all of our network is hooked into generator power. We're trying to get every single switch hooked into generator power so that all of our phones, Wi-Fi, all of that stays up if we do lose power. Um, last thing we are looking at putting, um, right
037now our video surveillance down at Maple is on a separate system. Um, part of the Wi-Fi is putting a server down there so that our cameras down there are tied into our regular system up here as well. um just to kind of come full circle and bring that property back into our network. It never really was built into our network. So, this will allow it so that if you're down there, it's like you're on this on this uh property. Um wasn't as long as I thought. It was a lot of work, I swear. Um you guys have any questions? >> I'm truly about the Wi-Fi. What? >> I'm excited about the Wi-Fi. >> If you walk around this building, you used to kind of like as you traveled from access point to access point, you
038would always kind of disconnect or lose a phone call. I've been purposefully testing it, and it's been rock solid for about two weeks now. So, I'm really excited about it myself. >> I love that you're connecting Maple and the academy to kind of make them more one. >> Yeah. And my long-term goal is to get door access down there as well. So that your badge when you walk down there is that way we don't have keys floating around. If if you have access to this building, you have access to that building or we can cut it off if we want and you can just have access to that building. But um so really all of our systems that we have set up here that are really getting standardized and made to be industry standard, we're
039trying to bring down there as well so that it's treat it like it's part of our school because it is. It's just a remote part of our school which makes it a little bit harder to get it part of that system. But we Nick did a lot of work on the back end to make that network be part of our network. Um so like 30 hours just sitting there trying to trying to get through some problems. So he he did great with that. So >> well sincere thanks to you and the team for all the hard work. >> Thank you guys. Mr. D. Rosa, >> we know you're excited about the snow coming. >> I I didn't know there was snow coming. >> Uh I am not excited about the snow coming, but uh we
040are prepared. So, um to start off with that, we spent this week preparing uh our facility for snow. on the heels of the recent snowstorm that we weren't supposed to get that we got. Um we have been moving snow banks, right? Because we're now expecting over a foot right now as it stands. Um so we've been moving snow banks to make room for the additional snow that's going to or that may accumulate. So we will be prepared. Um just uh you know this is this is shaping up to be a significant storm. So um just note that we are we are prepared. So again, uh thank you guys for the opportunity to present on behalf of buildings and grounds. It was a very busy uh break. Uh we were here every day with the exception
041of Christmas. So I'd like to start off by thanking Brett Sutton, Kyler Chryser, Mark Reed, Brian Rogers, and Mike Perry. These folks provided support for our contractors who were both in the elementary school and the academy. We had multiple contractors um and they provided, you know, coverage, making sure they were working safely, protecting our assets. Um but we were our our team was here every day over the break focused primarily on the construction of the secure entryways. So in that 2 week period up at the elementary school, we demoed both storefronts. Storefronts are the glass doors and aluminum frames. When you first walk in the building, there's two sets of them. um completely different now. So, we've demoed both of those. Um as you walk into the elementary school on the lefthand side is now
042the secure entryway. It is fortified. Um and uh basically how it works with uh Dan's help, we installed these. They're called aphones. Um so they're they're camera phones with a monitor. Uh outside there's an intercom with a with a camera and the security guard can talk to somebody outside and then control the doors. So we have up to eight doors that we can control. Um in this building we are we run into some issues where the security guard at the front might be the only person here tonight but we might wind up with a FedEx delivery uh in at the loading dock. So instead of pulling him away from the security desk um where he has access to all the cameras and he's monitoring what's going on inside the building and in the exterior, he
043can now speak with FedEx, give them instructions or if it's somebody he knows and it meets our protocol, he could allow he could give them access into the building. Obviously a FedEx driver wouldn't wouldn't meet that protocol, but if it was, you know, somebody who did. Um, so the the secure entryways were up and running on day one. Uh, when we came back, it was a bit of a I think a shock to some of the employees when they came in and they saw how different specifically the elementary school looked. Um, but it's it's airy. It's open and uh and it's super safe. We have never been as a district this fortified, right? We have monitors on all of our exterior doors so we know when they're left in the open position. We have bad
044readers on all of our classrooms and offices so we know who's accessing um our our our our locations and when. Um we can provide and and restrict access at the drop of a hat. And that's not typical for a school, but it was all kind of born from uh the work that the bu buildings and ground staff did in running the wires and that sort of stuff. Um, again, I know I spoke uh in a previous uh presentation about our ability to run the cabling and the savings to the district. Also, uh with that savings, we were able to purchase all the equipment required for the badge access uh system at Maple Avenue. So, uh, probably in the next two weeks that building will have badge access, uh, assuming, and I'm certain it we'll have
045it ready, but assuming the network is up and running, uh, and we could support that. So, that'll be a tremendous help, uh, too, because right now we're using a physical key, and as you know, physical keys can be misplaced or given out. Um, we do, however, on that topic, we do have cameras that record and monitor everybody who comes and goes from the building. Uh so we are we are secure there. Um uh the overall safety project is now about 90% done. We've moved into the punch list phase. So we're considered substantially complete. Um the punch list phase you'll see are things like areas of flooring that may have gotten damaged or some additional touch-up painting or some cladding on doors. But it's minor non-operational nonsignificant stuff that's required. The one big task that does
046remain is the installation of our uh um AEDs uh sorry the help points outside. So the help points again are um large almost like you see in a college campus with a blue light on top. There's a button to call automatically calls 911. They come with AEDs uh and it's a heated box so they could stay out there through the winter. Those arrived today. No, they arrived yesterday. Uh and they're going to be installed starting tomorrow. So, within the next week, they'll be operational. Um um or at least installed. I think within the next two weeks, they'll likely be operational. Um and uh and then we'll kind of close out close out that project. So, um big thank you to the buildings and ground staff. Without them, this project would not have happened over that
047break. Um, moving on to the intercolastic intercolastic athletics complex. Um, so as you know, it was, you know, the the motion, the project was passed by the voters in December. We now move into that window of tree felling, right? So, this is kind of where the proverbial rubber meets the road, as they say. Um we did our first bid walk uh on January 9th and we had about four biders show up. This project um it did not concern me by the way because this project is one that a bid walk doesn't provide a whole bunch of information. Um and we have been sending out bid packets to numerous companies. So, I'm hopeful, right, that we'll have um a decent amount of of biders. Um every day we receive questions from another bidder. So, there is
048a lot of activity, a lot of excitement around this project. Um the bids are due on Friday, this Friday, uh the 23rd at 3 p.m. at which time we will open the bids. uh we will publicly announce what each bid number is, how much money they're willing to uh do the project for, and then starting with the lowest bidder, we will then qualify them, right? So, we go into uh a review period of have you done similar projects, give us the contact information, we may require pictures, we may go out and visit the site. um if they don't meet the criteria for any reason, they don't have the experience, they can't meet the insurance requirements, we move to the next lowest bidder. And that process continues until we have a bidder of, you know, that's
049suitable for this project. So, our deadline, it's not even our hope because this has to happen and it will happen, uh, is that I present to you a um a suitable contractor at the next board meeting on February 4th or 5th. I think it's February. Yeah. Well, the first Wednesday in February. Um, and and and then at that point, like, you know, with your approval, we'll award the contractor. Um and then the following day, very important. So February 5th would be the next day, right? Was that right on that? Yeah, February 5th, you could anticipate um that project starting. So likely you'll have a surveyor out there for the first day um and then immediately after there will be um trees being felled, meaning cut down and laid down. So again, the area behind the
050elementary school, a 13 acre section, um for a period of uh several weeks, right, our contractors will be out there felling felling trees. So you will start to see construction fencing go up. You'll start to see posted signs um securing the site, but um that that's that's going to be a big part of this, right? So, just want to be completely clear and and level set kind of the expectations of what the community is is going to notice and going to see. Um, but it's all good stuff. So, the project is currently being designed for, you know, construction documents and review by SED and we are still on uh course to have this these documents ready by the end of May. So, um, with that, I open it up to you guys for any questions.
051>> Thank you for that. I do have a question about the, you know, glad to hear there's going to be the security fencing. That's great, but I'm just curious and you may have a curious George or Geette, but how are we ensuring that no one tries to enter that area? You know, just out of curiosity, what does that look like? All right. So, this first phase is a very difficult phase to secure to that level, right? Um because it's not designed for um anything from storm water runoff or physical protection. In in in the next phase where we do land clearing and then ultimate construction, there will be a physical fence around all 13 acres. That's being designed right now. for this phase, which is just a tree felling phase, which will likely be about
052a week to two weeks worth of work. Um, we will have orange construction fencing around the site. Um, at the elementary school, there will be a 6 foot high uh chain link fence that's physically affixed into the ground, separating the work area from the playground in the back. the um the older kids playground um and all the way down to the parking lot. So, there is going to be a physical barrier between any vehicles or construction activity. There will be very strict times that those folks can uh can access the site. Um as far as monitoring the the the site, so I met with the SRO up there. Um, my staff is currently being trained in SWIP and Speedies, which is SWIP stands for storm water protection program plan. And it basically requires daily inspections
053to ensure that dirt and mud aren't running into, you know, your natural streams and whatnot. And um, so while we're out there in the mornings checking, uh, we're also going to be walking, make sure the fencing is still up. And then periodically throughout the day, we will be uh uh doing a a drive around, but it is a heavily wooded area, so it's difficult to access with a vehicle. You need to be on foot. Um and we do have cameras at the elementary school that we can see a big portion of the area. Um certainly as the trees come down, we'll see a lot more. Um but that that's going to be monitored 24/7 by both the SRO's myself um and and we also have requ uh requested that the SRO's do um a quick
054circle of of the uh of the work site itself. So the first phase it's a little more difficult to control, right? But we will have physical barriers up 4ft high uh construction fences and a ton of signage uh all around the property. Um the second phase will be a lot easier uh because there will be a physical physical barrier. So um I hope that that helps. >> It does. Thank you so much. My next question was going to be whether or not our video we had video monitoring the area. So good to know that it does capture a good portion of it and then obviously yes when the trees are felled we'll see more. So thank you. >> Yeah. So one of the things that Mr. Schwarzoff uh myself and Miss O'Hara were talking about
055was uh and we're we're trying to figure out the logistics of this right now is how to put a timelapse camera out there. Right. So from day one until the completion of the project, it's my goal that at the end of this project we'll be able to watch uh a two three minute video of you know each day maybe every couple hours taking a snapshot to see how the the site progresses. Uh I think that would be I think that would be great to to show the community at the end. >> So but from a security perspective we could we you know security cameras as well with that um uh we would have so >> again thank you to um you know yourself and the crew for the work over I mean it was unbelievable
056what you did when most of us were home resting over the break. Thank you. Thanks from the board. >> Thank you. Appreciate your uh your time. >> Miss O'Hara, >> thank you. We're just going to wait a few moments to switch gears uh so that the presentation is up on our screen. As we're waiting for that this evening, uh I'm presenting on behalf of the board of education to the board of education and community um highlights of two full reports. One of which is the midyear report on district goals and the other uh the overview of New York State and I Ready assessment data. Great. Thank you. So just to make point uh these are highlights uh and the full reports are available on the district website. They're going to be on tomorrow uh for
057your review if you want to see uh the the the reports in their entirety. Um the overview of the New York State I Ready student assessment data is a 58page very detailed uh presentation. So you're welcome to uh view that report as early as tomorrow in in addition the midyear update on district goals. You heard each of our administrators report this evening. So it is quite extensive to the tune of a 63page report of what we've accomplished. the objectives, excuse me, the objectives accomplished in support of district goals. So, that report is also available for your review on the district website. As mentioned, when the district goals and objectives were presented at the beginning of this year, they aligned with our budget presentations where we outlined the priorities of the budget and that was investing
058in excellence. Um, budget priorities, investing in excellence, strengthening community engagement, advancing safety, security, and infrastructure. Budget priorities for 2627 will continue to be informed by student performance data, enrollment trends, and identified instructional and operational needs aligned to our mission, vision, and district goals. So again, just to give a few highlights from our first district goal, welcoming an inclusive learning environment. We transitioned, it seems like it was much longer than uh just this year, but a major highlight and significant transition for our students this year has been the full bell-to-bell implementation of personal device restrictions. And we are incredibly proud of how our students have navigated this change, which at Chester Academy expanded beyond the classroom to hallways, lunch periods, and the entire school day. We continue to expand opportunities for student perspectives to inform continuous
059improvement at both the building and district levels. So this includes fifth grade student representatives who you might have seen recently presented at our January 7th board of education meeting. In addition, we expanded our uh board of education student representatives role to include a junior member creating opportunity to learn and prepare for assuming the role in senior year. and and Brooke Badiato, our current senior board student representative, did the same last year. And joining us soon will be Daniel Mohart as a junior um preparing to uh transition to the role as he becomes a senior. Student voice played a significant role in communication efforts for the intercolastic athletics facility capital project, particularly through the district video titled student voices RY. Brooke also participated in that video as did many other students and we are incredibly excited
060and grateful to our community for supporting this transformational opportunity for our students and for the future of our schools and the broader Chester community. We also continue to assess and strengthen supports for student, staff, and families by expanding accessible communication. Whether that's through translated monthly newsletters, capital project and budget mailers, video communications, providing translated support through OU Bosey's NTC translation services, and we also have designated part-time staff um to support our students and families. In addition, we are leveraging the new student information system synergy to improve access to demographic attendance demographic data uh which includes attendance behavior academics to better identify needs and inform targeted supports. So a few highlights from our district goal number two innovative data driven instruction specific to instructional programs which Mrs. Garcia presented on this evening and she takes the
061lead in coordinating and planning all of our professional development and did a phenomenal job. Thank you again. So, our instructional programs and assessments continue to be strengthened through alignment with the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards informed by ongoing teacher input, targeted professional development across grade levels. The district is using multiple literacy and mathematics measures and resources including as mentioned on this very lengthy slide. Uh I Ready New York State assessments, standard aligned instructional programs as mentioned uh truly to support early literacy, strengthen reading and math instruction and ensure students are prepared with essential academic and life skills including financial literacy which in our we are in our second year of offering that course. And building on the instructional priorities outlined, I just outlined, the district continues to refine science and world language programs
062through targeted piloted pilots this year. Uh teacher feedback and the use of student performance data is crucial in determining whether or not we've moved forward with designated pilots. Current efforts include piloted science curricula across grades K through eight as well as identified areas such as chemistry enhancements to Spanish instruction through the program Authentico uh to strengthen standard aligned experiences uh as we also look to data to inform our instructional practices. Professional learning communities at Chester Elementary School are new this year. Chester Academy continues and they support standards align instruction by addressing grade level and/or course specific needs informed by student performance data and teacher input and ongoing data analysis. Mr. Schwarzoff just recently mentioned the new reports that uh we're beginning to import into the synergy system. So, synergy analytics continues to inform our instructional
063decisions, professional development, and in addition to that, progress monitoring. Student performance data from I Ready, New York State Assessments, midterms, and local benchmarks is analyzed at the classroom, grade building, and district levels to guide instructional decisions and support student achievement. Ongoing progress monitoring through I ready diagnostics and targeted analysis informs our instruction. It informs our professional development and it ensures timely responsive supports for students. It also drives priorities that we identify in budgetary planning. So with that we'll pivot to just a brief overview of the extensive report on New York State and I ready students assessment data. So in terms of I Ready and this is broken down in much more detail in the full report but as a general overview in reading for our students in K through 8 uh we began last year
064at the fall at 33% on grade level or above ending the year at 63%. Right? Significant growth and that's what we're looking for. If you look at the trajectory from the last three years, you notice that we've moved from 57% on or above grade level, 58 in the next year to now current 63. So, we're continuing to improve over the last three years. And then you would take that percentage and let's compare that to those in New York State that use the I Ready assessment with our district performing at 63% at the end of last year mid or uh excuse me early on grade level or above compared to New York State at 50% for those that participate or national at 52. So leading significantly and continuing to grow due to the efforts of our
065teachers and staff and their instructional practices. So, we pivot to math. Math uh leading, excuse me, beginning in the fall at 16% with end of year and spring assessment showing growth to 53% early on grade level or uh mid above. Over the last three years, moved from um endofear performance at 46% to 48% and again this year at 52%. So we are continuing to improve comparatively to New York state and national the district at our K8 students at 52% uh on grade level or above uh New York State at 47 national at 50. So we we are uh beyond that uh New York state and national levels and uh as I shared in that previous slide here, we're continuing to improve yearover-year for the New York State uh grades three to eight assessments. This table
066will show you progress from uh student performance from again the last three years. You can look at grade three going from 38% of students met the standard meaning earning a three or a four 38% last year excuse me in 23 24 last year 63% um that's tremendous growth for our students in grade three thanks to the efforts of our third grade team and you can uh go down the line with regard to performance in ELA and this slide shows performance in mathematics again you can look across again if I pulled out grade three in mathematics moving from 47% in 2223 to 49% in this year 65% of students meeting the standards. So we're starting to see that upward trend coming out of COVID um and the direct impact on student learning is our teachers. So
067outstanding uh and we're looking at each gra grade level. You can also take this slide and look at a group or a cohort. Uh for example, grade three students in 22 23 how did they perform? uh as grade four students in 23 24 and so on. And it's broken down even further in the full overview overview report. Quick highlights on New York State Regent exams. Those that are in orange are the new exams uh that were uh given last year. Geometry, life science, bio biology, and earth and space sciences. Our district was one of the few that uh did take on all of the new exams. some districts up to take on one or two. Um so that's a significant change uh leading into an assessment that um you know is the first one. So
068lingu English language arts the ELA 11 regions saw 88% proficiency well above the state average of 75. I'll just highlight a few. Algebra 2 91% exceeding the state average of 60%. Social studies global history at 88%. US history and government at 80% significantly outperforming New York State proficiency levels of 76 and 75% respectively. Science is an area that we are highlighting and focusing on life science biology. Uh the new assessment was at 59% proficiency which did match the state. Um we are looking at areas such as chemistry, earth and space sciences which yes was a new exam but also earth science as areas of focus for improvement. And as a whole, when we look at our assessment data, obviously we are committed as a district through the support of the board of education, through the
069efforts of our teachers and staff and the leadership of our uh administrative team, all committed collectively to high academics academic standards while also part providing targeted support to help every student succeed. You heard about academic eligibility from Mr. Ducet this evening. It's so important uh with regard to the participation in these state assessments. Not only does it impact uh the percentages that you see here this evening uh whereas a small district 1% and 2% is attributed literally to one student. So for each student that doesn't participate it impacts our scores much uh greater than it does for a larger district. Uh moving on, uh synergy was mentioned this evening, but with regard to data, um it's been a significant change and full transparency, a significant change for us teachers and staff, certainly with grading, very
070different than school tools, much more complex and a heavy lift. Um the why behind the transition to synergy exceeds the grading component that school tools only offered. Right? Synergy is um far more comprehensive and we will be phasing in which Mr. Schwarzoff spoke to this evening. All of the other components that it offers specific to student data, um analytics of reports from everything that includes demographics. We can outline demographics or pull out demographics and look at attendance, look at behavior, look at uh performance in mathematics, science, ELA, social studies. It also has enhanced functionality uh with our MTSS um system which is also specific to student success social emotional behavioral academic and then in addition to the data reporting that it provides it is unique in the ability to pull data at a moment's notice
071with regard to emergency notification protocols specific specifically reunification. So these have not been shared with teachers yet, respecting the fact that it's a heavy lift to just transition uh to this and in a significant change in practices. So we're appreciative of all of the efforts that have gone behind this and um we'll continue to move forward. Uh the other component um that we will we are enacting is a mid-year review with Synergy and I've already mentioned um the piece with phase two implementation and and the focus that we'll be implementing with phase 2. I'm appreciative of our parent advisory panel who recently met on January 14th and one of their objectives was to provide us feedback from a parent perspective. What has been your experience with this transition? Uh we've received positive feedback for report
072cards. Um positive feedback for registration. Um appreciated the changes that have been implemented through uh Mr. Ducet hearing the feedback from the parent athletics panel and some challenges with regard to athletics registration. So there's been improvements made there. the biggest uh area that was identified as a challenge for parents was signing up for parent teacher conferences. So um making sure that a time is blocked out and uh making it easier to navigate. So we're looking at that um and making sure that we're able to improve. I had mentioned um the um multi-tered system of supports which synergy is a component of in terms of um instead of having that completed separately because MTSS requires quite a bit of data in evaluating whether or not um supports put in place are showing success for a student.
073So synergy in 2026 will support a centralized documentation where progress monitoring data informed decision decision making specific to MTSS will be incorporated prek to 12 technology engineering robotics and multimedia continue to be integrated in grades prek to 12 to provide innovative and engaging learning experience across the district. It is very detailed and comprehensive. all of the examples from engineering design challenges, robotics and green screen technology at the elementary school uh really to high school students have access to advanced engineering design electives including CAD college level college level engineering graphics through Sunni asgo meatronics architecture civil engineering providing hands-on experience in digital design automation and structural concepts in addition to our workplace learning internship program and Mrs. Garcia just shared um that our family instructional academy highlighted what that looks like, what the program looks like
074that our students experience. So many thanks to uh Mr. Rodman and Mr. Jordan for supporting that and for Mrs. Garcia for offering that for our families. Um we are in our first year of implementation of the new academic eligibility policy at Chester Academy for all students. Mr. DET presented on students specific to athletics, but this new policy um incorporates all students beyond those that participate in athletics and extracurriculars. Um so one of those uh pieces that supports our ability to look at students progress from a fiveweek every five weeks uh progress reports is synergy. So um we are evaluating data um and looking at how effective this new academic eligibility policy is for those students that are not participating in uh athletics or extracurriculars and um what's their level of uh participation in those supports
075that are offered. We continue to expand opportunities for students to earn the New York State Seal of Biiteracy in year three and New York State Seal of Civ Civic Readiness in year two, recognizing graduates for multilingual proficiency and active civic engagement. These efforts equip students with state recognized credentials that support college career civic readiness while strengthening the district's commitment to inclusive future focused learning opportunities. Moving on to a few highlights in collaborative communication and engagement. We continue the monthly CF CUFSD newsletter to highlight district initiatives, student achievements at Chester Elementary School and Chester Academy. Those are available on our website and accessible in multiple languages. As recently mentioned, uh we have our CUFSD parent advisory panel. Thank you to all of our representatives whose input support continues improvement districtwide. Our October 28th meeting is where
076our parents gave input on our communication efforts for the intercolastic athletics facility capital project prior to our presentations to the community. And then I already mentioned uh the January 14th meeting with feedback on synergy including strengths and opportunities for improvement. And I appreciate our director of technology and data management uh Danwark Schwarzoff for joining that as well as Matt D. Rosa for providing our parents with an overview on the updated safety capital project as well as our intercolastic athletics facility capital project. And our next meeting is on April 15th. Family instructional academy continues to progress um with October 30th tricks and treats of using tech tools. So while we're providing our staff with professional development on Synergy, uh there was also an opportunity for our parents to learn the new platform parent view through synergy
077um and also uh become aware of any and and provide have support with any district communication tools. And just recently, as mentioned several times this evening, we just had our check the holidays. As Mrs. Garcia mentioned Parent Square is now in its second year of implementation supporting communication at both the district and building levels. And the big initiative or significant initiative this year was phase two where our teachers uh were able to use are able to use parent square. We've expanded that to teacherto parent messaging such including classroom updates and the instructional information. Upgrade to the welcome signs at Chester Academy certainly supports communication uh versus having to I guess stop and read a scrolling sign. So very excited um for this transition. Many thanks to Matt Rose and his team for installing the signs.
078And this will also be aligned to synergy where we're able to um announce any emergency uh protocols that are in place whether it be a drill or otherwise. Mentioned several times this evening, extensive communication and community engagement efforts ensure transparent information sharing meaningful stakeholder input on the proposed intercolastic athletics facility capital project. These efforts resulted in as we all know strong community support. So we had a 415 a 154 vote on December 16th. Uh it is for sure a historic milestone for the district, our students and families and our Chester community. So please I just want to make a note that our website remains open. Uh the targeted email address is there and you can go on the website for any updates Mr. Droso shared this evening, but you can also go to the website
079to get the current status of the project and that will continue to be available. Moving on to highlights in proactive safety and facilities management. There are many. Again, these are just the highlights. Uh we've had everything from uh district safety protocols uh continue to be strengthened. That that's been ongoing here and you've heard about it this uh evening. But it is important to just reiterate that everything that we do with regard to safety is through the collaboration with local and state law enforcement risk management partners, security professionals to ensure that we're uh providing consistent effective practices across all buildings. And this work is supported by building emergency response teams, our incident command system protocols, ongoing post drill debriefs, and targeted safety capital project upgrades to enhance access control, emergency response, and continuous improvement. You heard
080this evening about district upgrades to the network, Wi-Fi, security infrastructure that strengthens our connectivity, reliability, and overall system performance across all schools. Uh we've replaced our district firewalls. you heard about this evening, wireless access points, full act full imitation in implementation, excuse me, of the visitor aware system, uh, which includes comprehensive training for school resource officers and security personnel to ensure consistent and effective use as part of our established safety protocols. Synergy has been mentioned many times this evening. Um, we've already talked about the dashboards that are being designed around identified district, building, and teacher level needs. the MTSS integration operational priorities and emergency response and reunification capabilities. As part of our safety and security capital project, Mr. D. Rosa has led this initiative and just done a phenomenal job uh with his team. Districtwide
081door access lockdown systems have been fully upgraded, integrated, and tested in coordination with local law enforcement with all components operational. significant significant uh improvement districtwide. Upgraded badge readers, enhanced access control, software with remote management, secure visitor entryways, elementary cluster doors, uh completed entrance signage, and upcoming installation of LED AED help points. The list is extensive. Moving on to highlights for effective budgetary planning and continuous improvement, again, which supports everything that we do districtwide. Available federal and state funding continues to be strategically leveraged to advance district priorities, expand student opportunities, and ensure full compliance with all applicable requirements. Ongoing program evaluation, as you heard this evening, uh in addition to enrollment trends, do inform our budget planning and staffing decisions in alignment with resources to support to support student success. District programs are evaluated using student
082performance data that I just provided an overview for you this evening. That also includes teacher input, enhanced analytics through synergy to support continuous improvement and effective resource allocation. Fiscal planning incorporates key cost drivers to ensure alignment with students needs and to ensure long-term sustainability throughout the district. Financial planning continues to be aligned with enrollment, attendance, and demographic trends through data-informed analysis, supporting proactive planning for staffing, programming, transportation, and instructional resources. Cross department collaboration ensures that our budget remains aligned with instructional priorities, student needs, and the district's long-term goals, promoting sustainable budgeting and strategic resource allocation. So, as mentioned at the beginning, this truly was, believe it or not, just highlights uh from both of these extensive reports. Uh please for the midyear update on district goals and objectives. The full report will be on our
083website tomorrow under board of ed district goals and the other overview of New York State and I ready student assessment data will also be available tomorrow that lives on the website under academics student performance. So I encourage you to uh view those in detail as with um the beginning of the present presentation mentioning that last year's uh budget presentations identified instructional priorities which we're now presenting to you what did we do with the community supported budget. Our 2627 budget development calendar is available for you your review on our website and on March 4th the first budget presentation is scheduled and that will be a overview of budget priorities. So enrollment projections, staffing projections, revenue projections and maximum allowable tax levy. you can go on the website uh for an overview in detail of what specifically
084will be presented at each presentation. So with that, do you have any questions? >> As always, thank you for your very detailed um report. You know, when we do a report like this, I know I'm personally reminded it's not just about educating children. A a school district, even a school district as small as ours, it is multifaceted, multi- component, and we appreciate the time that you take to go through those pieces because um it it shows that we need to be multi- lensed. >> Thank you. And thank you to the board of education for your unified collective support of all the progress that has uh unfolded in this district uh this year and and in years prior, but specifically this year. And many thanks to our administrative team here this evening and and those who
085present on alternate days and especially our teachers and all of our staff as a small district. It is 100% the collective effort of everyone and then the efforts of our students to uh show that they are reaching their highest potential um in terms of their effort. So very exciting and in what we've accomplished together um as a team uh an entire CU CUSD team and my goodness I think it's time for me to stop talking and looking forward to uh continued success and improvement as uh in the years ahead. Thank you. That brings us to our first public comment and seeing that there's no one in person joining us, we will move to round table. I'll start at this side. Mr. Harold, do you have anything to share at round table? >> I do not
086this evening. [laughter] >> Mark this down, please. >> My gift. >> Yes. Thank you. Your report was so extensive. So we appreciate that. This side, >> Miss Biato, do you have any updates from the students? >> Yes, >> the good stuff. >> Yes, no worry. Not much because we've been busy with the senior class are now ready for order and all must be submitted by February 1st. club is new officers next month for next year and they're also looking for members to participate in the leadership training conference in the spring and the student council metro sophomore sales the band and chorus have worked on all county performances which will take place this Friday and Saturday and will also be doing the snack fun and the money will go towards students. >> Did you say slime?
087>> That was my question. >> How we can go from data to slime sale is impressive. >> Did you I was going to say did you say slime like slime? Oh, >> okay. >> Love it. That'll make buildings and ground so happy. >> Yes. [laughter] slime all over. >> Yes. >> Well, thank you for your report. >> That brings us to consent agenda. >> I would like to make a motion to adopt consent agenda items 5.1 through 5.6. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Consent agenda items pass. That brings us to our second public comment. And seeing that no one has walked in, can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> All in favor? >> For those of you who tuned in from home, thank you so much and we'll see
088you for our next meeting which is February 4th. 4th. Thank you and have a good night.